Finding Hope For Our Future
by Soccer-Bitch
Summary: Trapped into marriage by her own King, Lucinda is faced with the daunting task of taming her womanizing husband, the Duke of Suffolk. Will their trials and adventures lead them to the love they both seek? CharlesOC
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This is my first attempt at a Tudors fic. So please be kind in comments. They would make my day so much better.

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Sitting by the window, Lucinda Buckley, the lone daughter to Lord Thomas Buckley watched outside as the orange in the sky started to fade. With the window open slightly, she could feel the cool breeze. Being the youngest in the house of four older brothers gave her time to appreciate the silence when they were gone. Although she loved her brothers dearly, it seemed at every opportunity that she had at a chance with a suitor, they chased him off claiming that he wasn't worthy of her love. Letting out a deep breath, she heard footsteps, but she was unsure of where they were coming from. The book that she had taken upstairs to read was long abandoned on the bed. Smiling as she watched her brother coming home from a ride on his horse.

"Your mind has gone on another adventure, daughter."

Snapping her attention to the doorway of her bedroom, she stood up with the smile still present on her face. "I'm sorry Father, I was just enjoying the view. Do you think Robert will be coming by tomorrow?"

"Daughter, all of your brothers will be here tomorrow to celebrate your betrothal."

"My betrothal?" Lucinda asked, the surprise very evident in her voice.

"His Majesty has requested that you marry the Duke of Suffolk. Your dowry has been accepted by the Duke. You shall marry in three weeks time."

"The Duke of Suffolk?" Lucinda asked. "He's asked for my hand?"

"It is the wish of his Majesty," her father told her. "I will leave you to ready for bed. Two days until you are to go back to court."

"Yes, Father."

The surprise on her brother's faces when the following day as her father announced that she would marry the Duke of Suffolk did nothing for her nerves. Her father it seemed was the happiest of them all. Being only eighteen summers and a lady of the court she knew the reputation that the duke had. What made her father even more willing to allow her to marry the Duke was the fact that the King himself would be the one to marry them. Walking out of the house and into the stables where she walked to the stall where her horse was kept. Laughing when she saw him stick his head out when he saw her, she reached in and pet his head. She loved to ride him especially when it was just her and her oldest brother Robert.

"If you are thinking about running away from this, it won't do you any good."

Looking over her shoulder she saw Robert as she continued to pet her horse. His black coat shined in the light from the candle in the stables. "I think he would keep me safe."

"You know who the Duke is," Robert commented as he walked over to a stack of hay and leaned against it. "And father told you about this last night. Do you approve of this marriage?"

"It matters not of what I want. His Majesty, the King of England has deemed it to be a match. Who am I to tell the him otherwise?"

"You act as if it doesn't bother you," Robert said. "It will not be so bad as you think."

"It will be joyous when there is no love involved?" Lucinda asked, pushing her hair away from her face.

"Sister, you knew this was always could happen."

"I had hoped that it would not."

"The Duke will treat you well. You will give him a family. There is no reason to fear him."

"I do not fear him!" Lucinda shouted as she turned and looked at him. "I want a faithful husband. Not one that will go around after he's married and pleasuring other women instead of his wife."

"Maybe you'll have to tame his wild ways," Robert told her. "You aren't getting any younger. Don't you wish to be married? To have your own family? Children of your own?"

Turning to look at him, Lucinda gave her a look to show she was not pleased with what he was saying. Crossing her arms over her chest, she felt her horse's head rest on her shoulder. "You think I want to spend my life here? Unwed?"

"What is it that you want?"

Lucinda's look softened as she turned her back to him and rubbed the neck of her horse. "I've always wanted to travel and now it seems that I won't be able to."

"You still might be able to," Robert told her placing his hand on her shoulder. "Give it a chance. He was married before."

"To his Majesty's sister."

"She died of consumption."

"Why are you telling me this?" Lucinda asked.

"I know you don't want to do this," Robert said. "But keep your mind open when you have that picnic with his Majesty and your future husband. This will be for the best."

"I wish I could go back to when things were simpler," Lucinda confessed. "When I was able to sneak off and no one noticed until I showed up again."

"And if my memory recalls you were drenched in mud each time."

Lucinda laughed knowing he was right. "Do you think Father will let me keep Dagger? If I have to leave him, I would miss him terribly."

"You know as well as I do," he started before walking up to the stall next to his sister. "That none of us can tame that brute. How you do so, I have no idea."

"It just takes the right touch," Lucinda smiled as she pulled out a carrot from the bucket next to the stall. "They will check to see if my virtue is in tact, won't they?"

"You aren't just marrying anyone," Robert said. "This is a duke and the King's best friend. Had you married that boy that used to live down the road that you used to play with as children then things might have been different."

"I will not disappoint our father."

"I have no doubts about that. Especially with dowry that was agreed upon. Come you need rest, we will journey to court tomorrow. Anna and Paul are looking forward to seeing you."

Moving away from Dagger, she walked with her brother back into the house. The cold wind moving her hair off her shoulder. "I have missed them as well. I hope that I will not have to see his grace tomorrow."

"I'm sure that it will unavoidable, sister."

"I'm sure that the Duke will have more to do than to look for me while I am with your wife and children."

"Soon enough it will be you that will be expecting children."

"Surely the Duke does not expect such a thing right away." Lucinda said.

"Get to know the man," Robert told her. "You might find he isn't as bad as you'd like to think."

The next morning, Lucinda and Robert rode away on their respectful horses. With the sun on her back and the wind blowing ever so slightly, she smiled as she brought Dagger to a slow pace as she followed Robert's lead. She could hear the steam of running water as she reigned in her horse as she watched Robert dismount. "Your wish of not running into your betrothed seems highly unlikely at the moment."

Looking up as she was about to dismount, she took a deep breath as she watched Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk approach her horse. "Lady Buckley."

"Your Grace."

Reaching up, Charles smiled at her as he helped her off her horse. Placing her arms on his shoulders as his hands went to her hips before her feet touched the grass. Grabbing the reigns, she walked to the water's edge. "Drink up." she whispered as she patted him gently before looking at her brother. Looking into his eyes, she silently asked him to watch her horse before making her way back to where the Duke was watching her.

"He doesn't seem to care for me." Charles stated as he looked from Lucinda's riding partner back to her.

"Why would he?" Lucinda smiled. "You are after all taking away his sister from a place where he can come as he pleases to a place where he cannot."

"So you know," Charles nodded taking her hand, he looped it through his arm as they walked away. "I was unsure if I would be the one to tell you."

"My Father has done nothing but celebrate it since he told me."

"I would have thought you would have been married off by now."

"But I'm not," Lucinda said as she felt him drop her arm. "Why are you here, your Grace?"

"To bring you back to court on the wish of his Majesty."

"I do not understand."

"His Majesty wishes for my betrothed to have dinner with me tonight."

"And this was his Majesty's idea?"

Her brown eyes looked into his. This was a side of him she had not seen before and if truth be told, she didn't know how she felt about it. Feeling his hand on the side of her neck, she moved her head away from his touch. "Is this the way you act towards your soon to be husband?"

"Is this how you treat all your whores?"

Letting out a laugh, he backed her up so her back was against the tree. "What I do and with whom is no concern to you. But you will marry me as the King wishes. And I assume you have never been touched by another man before?"

She bit her lip to distract herself from the bitter tears welling up in her eyes before glaring at him. "I, unlike some, know how to keep myself pure."

"Then the weeks will go by ever so slowly," he smirked, dipping his head and placing his hand on her neck to keep her head in place as he place a kiss on her neck before placed a kiss on side of her mouth. "I'll be escorting you and your brother back to court."

Breaking away from him, Lucinda made her way back to her horse. Feeling a pair of arms wrap around her mid-section, she struggled a bit before she heard his voice. "If you return mad, your brother will do something foolish and you don't want that do you."

Turning in his arms, she wanted nothing more than to slap the grin right off his face.

"Am I interrupting?" Robert asked, his tone was obvious that he didn't care if he were interrupting or not. "The horses are ready to continue. Are you coming with us back to court, your Grace?"

"I am." Charles said moving his arms from her waist to loop her arm with his once again. He walked her towards her horse and helped her onto the large beast. His hand strayed to her thigh and she looked down at him.

Nudging her horse forward, Lucinda didn't give the Duke a look as he got into the saddle of his own horse. Following them, Charles pulled his horse up next to hers. Taking a deep breath she tried to keep her emotions in check. After all she did not want to insult the him and have him tell the King what she had done. That would have been the worse thing she could do. "Lady Buckley, do I make you uncomfortable?"

"No, your Grace." she answered keeping her head up and looking at the long road ahead of them. It looked long, but it wasn't that far.

Lowering his voice so that only she could hear him, Charles' grin reappeared. "Are you sure of that? You didn't seem yourself on our walk."

"I'm fine, your Grace."

Even if he did make her uncomfortable, she would never admit to such a thing.

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A/N2: Review! Let me know if you think I should keep going or not. And I am also posting this on another writing site with a graphic design and everything. If you would like the link, send me a PM and I'll give it to you.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thank you all for the awesome reviews!

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"Do you think you'll fall in love with him?"

Looking up into the eyes of her second oldest brother, Lucinda smiled. Her long brown hair swept to the side leaving one shoulder bare to feel the cold breeze in the drafty hall. She knew he was worried about the arrangement of her marriage and how quick it was approaching. Taking a grape off her plate, she paused before bringing it to her lips. "I hope one day. The rumor has it, his Grace hasn't been intimate with anyone since the betrothal was announced."

"What do you think of that?"

"I try not to think of him if it can be helped."

"He will soon be your husband."

"I'll marry before you."

"And you'll have children before me too."

"Says who?" Lucinda asked. "You don't think he expects me to bare his children right away do you?"

"That's what happened with Robert, why should your husband be any different?"

"Because my marriage is being arranged, Robert fell in love and was able to marry. When I marry it will not be for the same reasoning as what everyone else has or will."

"You should be lucky that the duke has accepted your dowry. You aren't as young as some of the other women in this court."

"But unlike most of them, I still have my virtue in tact."

"And you know that will have to be checked on your wedding day."

"Do not speak to me as if I were a child. I know what will happen on my wedding day." Lucinda said glaring daggers at her brother.

"Lucinda," he sighed, running a hand through his thick brown hair as he closed his eyes. "I worry for you. The Duke will be able to provide for you."

"Edward, why do you think I have gone so long without a suitor?" Lucinda asked, looking at him before her eyes met those of her betrothed as he talked to another woman. She was the opposite of Lucinda, at least in appearance. Lucinda had warm brown eyes to go with her long flowing brown hair and light complexion. The woman who was eating every word that the Duke of Suffolk was saying had long curly blonde locks, but she could tell the eye color. Once he saw her looking at him, Lucinda turned her attention back to her brother. "It was because none of you gave a man the chance to. You would make them lose interest before I ever had the chance to get to know any of them. So if this is anyone's fault, it would be yours."

"You don't mean that."

Lucinda didn't say anything, she just looked down at her plate of food, suddenly not hungry. Letting out a sigh, she knew it was not her place to such things and usually would be able to contain her thoughts to herself, but today was not just any day. Today marked the one week of when she would marry the duke. "I think I'm going to-"

"Finish eating."

Snapping her head up, Lucinda saw the duke sit next to her.

"Your Grace."

Edward bowed his head to Charles before looking at his sister's sullen look. "If your Grace does not mind, would you make sure she eats all of that. She barely ate anything today."

"And where are you going?"

"I made a deal with Robert and I am to take his kids see Mother and Father in the morning. If I am to handle them both I will need the energy."

Making his way to where his sister sat and fiddled with the food on her plate, Edward kissed her cheek and bid her a farewell. "He allows you to be alone with me unlike your eldest brother."

"Robert only trusts the men in our family to be along with me," Lucinda smiled before looking down at her plate. "I leave the day after tomorrow for Robert's home."

"I know," Charles told her taking a grape between his thumb and forefinger. "He has invited me for dinner."

The shock in her eyes, made him smiled as he brought the grape to her lips. Eating the small piece of fruit, Lucinda couldn't help but wonder what her brother was up to. After she had swallowed it, she looked into his eyes. "I do not mean to sound disrespectful, your Grace, but why would my brother invite you into his home for a meal? He does not seem to like you at all."

"Have you been talking to your brother about our soon to be marriage?"

"Only what I am comfortable in telling him."

"So you would not have told him if your virtue was compromised."

"As I told Edward, I have never laid with a man before and when I am to marry you, that night I shall no longer have it."

"And you also do not believe I want to start a family right away."

"You were listening?"

"No, Lady Buckley," Charles said, his grin widening as he watched her. "Your brother has brought it to my attention."

"My brother?" Lucinda asked, a slight sigh escaping through her lips. "Tell me, which one of my brothers cannot keep his mouth shut?"

"Do not be upset with them," Charles said as he took her hand in his own, before bringing it to his lips as he placed a soft kiss upon the top of her hand. "It reminds me that we have much to talk about before the wedding."

"Your Grace?" Lucinda asked, unsure what he was trying to say.

With a smile and a nod of his head, he stood and held his hand to help her up. "I shall walk you to your chambers Lady Buckley."

"Thank you," Lucinda said as she stood up and watched as the Duke of Suffolk looped her arm through his and held her hand with his other. "Is there something wrong, your Grace?"

"Not at all."

Holding her brother's one year old daughter on her hip while chasing his four year old son, Lucinda couldn't but smile and laugh as the laughter of William reached her ears. As they made their way to the small creek, Lucinda had a feeling that the visitor was Charles. She had not seen him since he had walked her to her chambers two nights ago. She didn't want to admit it, but she had missed seeing his smile and hearing his laugh.

Her eyes stayed on William, he was just as adventurous as she was at that age. "No mud William. Your Mother does not want to have to dirty another outfit."

"But Aunt Luc," William said, his voice disappointed with the idea of keeping his clothes cleaned. "I have a question for Father. Can we go back?"

"Of course," Lucinda smiled, adjusting his sister on her hip as William walked next to her on the way back to the house. As soon as they were within distance she saw Charles and Robert leaving the stables. "There he is."

"FATHER!"

Lucinda couldn't help but laugh as she watched William run towards his father as she walked at the same pace. Feeling her niece let out a loud sigh, she knew that she wanted her father as well. His children adored him and she hoped with everything in her that that would be the same for her future husband and their future kids. Making her way towards where the men had stopped when Robert lifted his son into his arms. Curtsying as best she could with her niece in her arms, Lucinda looked up at him with a small smile on her face, but it reached all the way to her eyes. "Your Grace."

"Lady Buckley," Charles said stepping towards her as she once again re-adjusted having her niece on her hip. "And this is?"

"This is Robert's daughter," Lucinda said, "Lady Anna Buckley."

The night went by rather quick in Lucinda's opinion. Her brother seemed to open up more to the idea that Charles wasn't as bad as his reputation led people to believe. Lucinda was seeing that first hand in the time that they would spend with one another. While putting the children were being put to bed, Lucinda escaped outside to the stables without her brother noticing her absence right away. The one who did notice was the one that came looking for her.

"Is he yours?" Charles asked as he walked closer where she stood on bale of hale next to the door of stall.

"He is," Lucinda smiled as she scratched the horse behind his ears. "He was supposed to go to Robert, but none of my brothers could tame him. All he wanted was a gentle hand and so father gave him to me instead."

"Does he have a name?"

"Dagger," Lucinda told him. "For he was shooting daggers at my father and brothers as they were shooting them at him."

"They do not like your horse then?"

"In the beginning they hated him, but with time they saw how much I loved him and they deemed him worthy enough."

"And what will happen when we marry?"

"I suppose that would depend on how you feel about me and how you treat me." Lucinda told him honestly.

"I will not hurt you," Charles said as he placed a hand on her shoulder. "Do you believe me?"

"I do not think you will harm me by hitting me," Lucinda told him. "But I do think that there might be a chance where you find another woman and bed her and I find out and I'm left emotionally hurt and you would be the cause of that pain. Then what would I be to do?"

"Lady Buckley," Charles said, taking her hand to help her down from the haystack. "My intention is not to bring harm to you in any way."

"Your reputation speaks for itself, your Grace."

"Do you fear our union?"

"I will not deny that I have my doubts, but my brothers tell me that they are normal for the bride to be." Lucinda told him.

"Do you trust me?"

"I do not understand, your Grace."

"For everything to work out as it should, you shall need to trust me," he explained. "Do I have your trust?"

"Why should I give you something that you have not earned?" she asked. "Everyone must earn the trust of another. It is how they know when something is real or not."

"Then I will prove to you that you can trust me," he told her. "And it will be before we are married. We will have a happy marriage."

"That is my wish as well," Lucinda told him. "I do not have the experience of the other women that you have bedded, so I fear that night you shall be disappointed."

"I know that your virtue is still in tact, but a disappointment on our wedding night?" Charles asked, with a laugh. "There will be no need to fear what shall happen. Everything will happen in time and that includes experience."

"Your Grace, I-"

"Come," he said looping their arms together. "You shall need your rest if we are to ride back to court tomorrow."

"Yes, of course your Grace."

Smiling to Dagger before leaving with Charles to the house, Lucinda stopped when they reached outside before getting to the door. "Nights with the stars lit so beautifully in the sky seem to always calm me down. That is a secret that no one knows about me."

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A/N2: So I was gonna wait to post this until I get back from LA on Sunday, but seeing as it's my birthday, I figured I post it since all of the comments made my day that much better. Please keep the comments coming.


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